Macklemore Removed From Ed Sheeran Tour Following ‘Free Palestine’ Messaging

Macklemore has been removed from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour after leading audiences in “Free Palestine” chants, according to Messina Touring Group. “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans,” they told Rolling Stone on Monday. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.” The update comes a week after the Israeli American Council condemned the rapper’s pro-Palestine stance, issuing a petition for his removal. “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you,” Macklemore said during his second night opening for Sheeran at the MetLife Stadium. “My message is for peace, love [and] for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.” “So I say free Palestine. I say free Lebanon. I say free Cuba. I say free Congo, free Sudan, free all people in America living in fear over this terrorist organization ICE,” he continued. “None of us will be free until we are all free.” Macklemore was originally scheduled to open for eight more shows on Sheeran’s tour, kicking back up Friday in Philadelphia. His commentary also previously sparked a response from Pink, who criticized her fellow musician for standing “in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them.” TheWrap has reached out to Macklemore and Sheeran’s teams for comment.